[Buddha-l] Moment of individuation, moment of truth

[John Whalen-Bridge]

I take it Richard Hayes is distinguishing between "true" and "truth"?
Agreeing with James that we can have an interpretation that is true
while denying (in reference to Pope B.XVI) "that anyone can know what it
is"...don't jive. Elsewhere in the passage Hayes voices skepticism about
knowing "absolute truth," which fits James better.  And Rorty says
"truth" only exists in human sentences.  What point then is saying there
is a truth but no one "knows what it is"? The omniscience of the totally
enlightened chap would be one solution, but I'm still waiting to meet
one.

Epistemological humility fits well with both Buddhism and pragmatism,
but most Buddhisms do hold out for the possibility of knowing both kinds
of truth, relative and absolute, no?  

All best,  JWB
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> Subject: RE: [Buddha-l] Moment of individuation
>On Sat, 2005-04-23 at 10:04 -0400, Stanley J. Ziobro II wrote:
> One's interpretation can be true, but limited. 
>
>R.Hayes:  Exactly. That is James's position, and I agree with him.

> The only problem I see is the temptation to deny a truth on the 
> grounds that not everybody recognizes it as such; or the temptation to

> deny that there is a truth or truth because there precisely are 
> different interpretations.

>R.Hayes: Again, this is a good articulation of James's position, and
again I completely agree with him.

> The latter then becomes a positive affirmation that there is a 
> universal truth, and that truth is that there is no universal truth, 
> that it's simply a matter of frames, lenses, perspectives.

>Exactly my point. You are catching on fast. I have never had any
problem with the claim that there is a truth. I have 
>>>always had a problem with the claim that anyone knows what it is. So
when I hear, for example, people saying that there 
>is> an absolute truth and Pope Benedict XVI is proclaiming it (yes, I
have heard people sa.ying just this) or that there 
is an> absolute truth and it is stated in the Bible (or the Qur'an or
the Pali canon or the Lotus Sutra), then I am inclined to say "You are
offering a perspective on the truth, not the truth itself."
--
Richard Hayes